The haunted house ride is a time-honored attraction for thrills and chills at amusement parks.

Halloween haunts have become a big draw during the Halloween season at amusement parks.

The Disney Imagineers took the haunted house ride to a whole new level with The Haunted Mansion, opening in 1969 in Disneyland, 1971 in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, 1983 in Tokyo Disneyland, 1992 in Disneyland Park Paris and 2013 in Hong Kong Disneyland.

It’s the second go-round for a “Haunted Mansion” movie based on the Disney ride. The first, released in 2003, starred Eddie Murphy.

The latest “Haunted Mansion” movie version was, appropriately enough, in “development hell” in Hollywood, having been first announced in 2010.

Disney’s Haunted Mansion is billed as “a dark-ride attraction.”

The film-makers of Disney’s latest “Haunted Mansion” movie took that description to heart. The movie is so dark, not thematically, but visually, that scenes and characters are difficult to ascertain.

I was looking forward to a summer cinema thriller.

Instead, the “Haunted Mansion” movie is a summer cinema snoozer.

The “Haunted Mansion” film-makers didn’t want to make a horror film, but instead a fun, family-friendly movie about ghosts and paranormal phenomena.

“Haunted Mansion,” directed by Justin Simien (director: “Bad Hair,” 2020; “Dear White People,” 2014, TV’s “Dear White People,” 2017-2021) has its fun moments.

There are almost as many screenwriters credited for the 2023 “Haunted Mansion” movie as there are ghosts in the Disney Haunted Mansion ride: 12 in all.

Katie Dippold (“Ghostbusters,” 2016; TV’s “Parks and Recreation,” 2009-2012; “Mad TV,” 2006-2009) is credited for the screenplay, but “additional material” was written by 11 writers: Bryan Cogman, D.V. DeVincentiss, Micah Fitzerman-Blue, Noah Harpster, Justin Haythe, Jeff Nathanson, Matthew Robbins, Steven Thompson, Chris Weitz, Justin Simien (the film’s director) and Guillermo del Toro (who was under consideration to direct).

There are some nice moments in “Haunted Mansion.” These include scenes with Ben Matthias (LaKeith Stanfield), an astrophysicist and widower turned haunted mansion guide, and Travis (Chase W. Dillon), son of Gabbie (Rosario Dawson), a single mother.

Ben is attracted to Gabbie, a widow who lives in a “this old house” in New Orleans. It’s beyond being a real fixer-upper. She wants to open a bed and breakfast. Unfortunately, there’s no vacancy. Gabbie already has a full house of ghosts from the beyond.

Ben tries to help Gabbie with her ghosts problem. Ben has developed a camera to detect dark matter. He’s a Ghostbuster with a GoPro camera.

Added to the mix are a priest, Father Kent (Owen Wilson); Harriet (Tiffany Haddish), a so-called psychic; Bruce (Danny DeVito), a professor; Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis), a so-called medium whose head floats in a crystal ball; Crump (voiced by Jared Leto), the mansion’s former owner; Tour Guide (Daniel Levy); Tour Guide (Winona Ryder), and Tourist (Marilu Henner).

Each of these talented actors is taken for ride. They are wasted in roles that are woefully underwritten. They resort to a cinematic acting style I call “Mug-O-Rama.”

The directing, editing and even the soundtrack, which seems to be from a sound library, cannot lift the material off the page. Moreover, I would have enjoyed more New Orleans scenes.

An odd thing about “Haunted Mansion” is that there is not one haunted mansion, but two haunted mansions in the movie. Maybe there will be a chain of haunted mansions. There is a residential housing shortage in the United States.

My favorite part of the movie is at the end credits, where apparitions in the mansion ballroom waltz to the song, “Grim Grinning Ghosts (Dance Party).”

That scene took me back to the ride, Haunted Mansion, at Disney World. The ride is still a better ride than the movie.

“Haunted Mansion,”

MPAA rated PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned: Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.) for some thematic elements and scary action; Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family; Run time: 2 hours, 3 minutes. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

“Haunted Manson” was filmed in New Orleans, La., and Atlanta, Ga.

At The Movies:

“Haunted Mansion” was seen in the standard format at AMC Center Valley 16.

Theatrical Movie Domestic Box Office,

Aug. 18-20: It wasn’t exactly “Beetle”-mania, but the DC Comics superhero turned the box office from pink to blue as “Blue Beetle” opened at No. 1 with $25.4 million in 3,871 theaters, considered a lackluster opening for a comic book superhero movie, but enough to end the four-week No. 1 run of “Barbie,” dropping to No. 2 with $21.5 million in 4,003 theaters, $567.2 million, five weeks.

3. “Oppenheimer” dropped one place, with $10.6 million in 3,321 theaters, $285.2 million, five weeks. 3. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” dropped one place, $8.4 million in 3,477 theaters, $88.1 million, three weeks. 5. “Strays,” $8.3 million in 3,223 theaters, opening. 6. “Meg 2: The Trench” dropped two places, $6.7 million in 3,402 theaters, $66.5 million, three weeks. 7. “Talk to Me” stayed in place, $3.1 million in 1,789 theaters, $37.3 million, four weeks. 8. “Haunted Mansion” dropped two places, $3 million in 2,180 theaters, $58.8 million, four weeks. 9. “Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One” stayed in place, $2.7 million in 1,608 theaters, $164.6 million, six weeks. 10. “The Last Voyage of the Demeter” dropped five places, $2.5 million in 2,715 theaters, $11.3 million, two weeks.

Movie box office information from Box Office Mojo as of Aug. 20 is subject to change.

Unreel,

Aug. 25-27:

“Gran Turismo,”

PG-13: Neill Blomkamp directs David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe and Djimon Hounsou in the Action, Adventure Drama. A video game player of the popular racing game tries to becomes a race car driver.

“Golda,”

PG-13: Guy Nattiv directs Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber in the Biography Drama. It’s based on the story of Israel Prime Minister Gola Meir’s role during the Yom Kippur War.

“Retribution,”

R: Nimrod Antal directs Liam Neeson, Embeth Davidtz, Matthew Modine in the Action, Crime, Thriller. A father faces a bomb threat while driving his children to school.

“The Hill,”

PG: Jeff Celentano directs Dennis Quaid, Joelle Carter, Scott Glenn, Bonnie Bedelia, Jesse Berry and Colin Ford in the Biography Drama based on a true story about Rickey Hill’s Major League Baseball career.

Movie opening dates on Internet Movie Database as of Aug. 20 are subject to change.

Two Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes